Revamped ICLS to serve Al Ain Hospital

The completely revamped Institute for Clinical Laboratory Services (ICLS) will shortly be offering world class services to patients visiting Al Ain Hospital.The work is in the final stages and the hospital has procured new equipment along with the recruitment of skilled professionals, said an official of the hospital."We are in the process of transforming ourselves into a world class healthcare facility and this renovation and up-gradation of facilities is in line with that objective," said George Jepson, the CEO of Al Ain Hospital. Al Ain Hospital is owned and operated by Abu Dhabi Health Services Company PJSC (SEHA) and managed by Vienna Medical University and VAMED. The facility has specially be designed to meet the requirements.Professor Gerhard Schwab, Medical Director of the hospital, said: "it is not just the facility that is world-class,we have recruited highly skilled professionals from around the world to run this unit." The ICLS, he said, has obtained JCIA (Joint Commission International Accreditation) and HAAD (Health Authority - Abu Dhabi) certification and all consultants, technical staff and phlebotomists are the HAAD licensed. The Institute also undergoes CAP external proficiency tests to meet international standards. To ensure that the best, fast, accurate services are provided to patients at all times, especially to those who require critical care, a STAT laboratory, which provides quick lab results for the evaluation and treatment of critically ill patients in the ICU, is also being developed, said the medical director. The facility will offer 24 hours service during all days of the week."We now use Accuchek Inform II which is a professional blood glucose meter with wireless RF functionality to test the right patient at the right time. It is a user-friendly, hand-held system for point of care glucose testing and monitoring," said Professor Schwab. The ICLS, he said, will soon launch Urisys, a urine analyser which makes testing automatic and fast. With just the push of a button it evaluates the test strip and prints a patient report. "Compared to visual testing, this gives more time for other things and helps to make the lab operations more efficient," he added. Also to be introduced in the immediate future are points of care testing for pregnancy. The Institute is also developing an intranet site which will include essential laboratory information such as the lab handbook which includes important testing information, he said. From / Gulf News